Tactical Frivolity’s Joy and Power (#106)
The Long Twilight Struggle is a newsletter focusing on our long twilight struggle against authoritarianism, Christian nationalism, and the malignant influence of tech broligarchs. I also share links and commentary about sports, efforts to combat false accusations and wrongful convictions, and other stories I find interesting.
In this edition, I discuss why the No Kings rallies—and their use of tactical frivolity—were so successful, why we should not normalize Trump’s unhinged AI slop reaction to them, and other stories I’m following.
Here we go. I’m glad you’re here.
“It might be helpful for you to know that you are not alone. And that in the long, twilight struggle which lies ahead of us, there is the possibility of hope.” “The Long Twilight Struggle.” Babylon 5, created and written by J. Michael Straczynski, Season 2, Episode 20, 1995.
#1: Loving America Means No Kings
The people of the United States have been holding #NoKings rallies since April 19, 1775, when the American colonists and the British Army engaged in battles at Lexington and Concord, Mass.
No Kings is not simply a response to Donald Trump. No Kings is the foundation of our national identity.
At least it was until January 6, 2021. Since the Capitol Insurrection that day, Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters have rejected this national birthright in service of a personality cult. We experienced last week just how extreme Republican leaders are willing to be in the service of Trump’s right to rule. Here are some examples:
- Speaker of the House Mike Johnson: “We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday. Let's see who shows up for that. I bet you you'll see Hamas supporters, I bet you'll see antifa types, I bet you'll see Marxists on full display, people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic.”
- Speaker of the House Mike Johnson: “We're so angry about it. I mean, I'm a very patient guy, but I've had it with these people. The theory we have right now – they have a hate America rally that's scheduled for October 18 on the National Mall. It's the pro-Hamas wing and antifa people...”
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer: “Clearly, the Democrat Party of today is not your grandfather's Democrat Party. They care about one thing and one thing only – appeasing the radical pro-terrorist wing of their party.”
- Trump Regime Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: “The Democrat Party's main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
All of these statements are lies. They know there are more people in opposition to them than terrorists and antifa people. But they don’t care about the facts. After all, what’s the downside to feeding your base some red meat when it is unlikely you’ll face any follow-up questions?
The No Kings rallies and marches celebrated the United States and the best our nation has to offer. Up to 8.2 million people participated in rallies in every state and at locations worldwide. Police departments, including New York City, shared statements about making zero arrests related to the event.
The events were peaceful—and fun! People saw they were not alone. Social media was filled with photos of their favorite protest signs. And there were so many frogs, unicorns, dinosaurs, and other fanciful costumes.
Let’s not underestimate how important those signs and costumes are to resisting the Trump regime. Authoritarians hate being mocked. Protesters in costume make the authoritarian’s troops appear weak and ridiculous. Can a location with twerking unicorns and dinosaurs really be a warzone?
The absurdity of it all! 🤣
— ⭐️ RAVEN (@sunnydaze27.bsky.social) 2025-10-10T07:42:31.723Z
How powerful do the agents in Portland appear when you see they are shooting pepper spray pellets at, um, a frog?
WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents
— Danny K (@dannykpolitics.bsky.social) 2025-10-06T05:39:11.298Z
There is a name for this kind of protest: tactical frivolity. As Brenna Perez explains in this video, this effective tactic dates back to ancient Greece.
It was energizing to be a part of a large group opposing what Trump is doing to our country. Now we need to push on and continue to resist in whatever ways we can. Continue to call our representatives. Make donations to organizations working on the front lines, including local ones like food banks and abortion funds. Vote yes on Proposition 50 if you live in California.
Bring some joy to your world. There’s a long fight ahead against the Trump regime and its enablers. Refreshing and recharging is also a resistance activity.
Tabs I Closed
- Photos: ‘No Kings’ Anti-Trump Protests See Massive Turnout Across the Country (Allegra Kirland, Talking Points Memo, Link to Article)
- I Returned to the Site of the Original “No Kings” Protest (Bill McKibben, Mother Jones, Link to Article)
- The best way to counter Trump’s lies? Frogs 🐸 (Lyz Lenz, Men Yell at Me, Link to Article)
- The Surreal Practicality of Protesting As an Inflatable Frog (Matthew Gault, 404 Media, Link to Article)
- Portland's Inflatable Frog And The Power Of Laughtivism (The Resistance Sentinel, Link to Article)
#2: Trump Shits on Americans
There’s a headline I never thought I would write. The No Kings rallies clearly had an impact on the president since he responded with what could be his most unhinged social media post yet.
HuffPost’s Kevin Schofield describes what the president posted:
Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated video of himself dumping shit on Americans marching in protest at his policies.
The bizarre clip shows the US president flying a fighter jet and wearing a crown as he targets those taking part in Saturday’s “No Kings” marches.
Trump posted the video on his Truth Social page late on Saturday night US time.
The 19-second clip starts with the jet, bearing the logo “King Trump” taking off from an airfield.
Trump is then seen in the cockpit with a crown on his head and wearing military fatigues.
The video then pans out to show him dumping his brown payload, which proceeds to land on the heads of the marchers in the streets below.
No, this is not normal. But, as Mark Jacob demonstrated in this BlueSky thread, most mainstream media outlets relied on euphemisms or downplayed what Trump posted. The Sunday morning news programs didn’t mention it.
But a president dumping shit on Americans is not okay. We must not allow it to seem okay. As Jacob explains in the thread, it is yet another example of something Trump has done that should have people questioning his mental fitness for office.
But we should also note that this attempt to troll us is a sign of weakness. Despite all of his words and the lies told by Republican leaders, they couldn’t stop the rallies. Trump wants to be a dictator, but he does not yet have all the powers of one. And in that fact, we can find hope, as Cup of Coffee’s Craig Calcaterra explains:
But while that's irksome, the whole episode is telling in a different way: it reveals just how toothless and shook this regime is and how obvious it is that, eventually, they will lose.
Trump and his surrogates spent several days leading up to Saturday trying to discredit the protests and smear those who would take part because they are manifestly uncomfortable. They are simultaneously doing the "not scared, bro" thing and the "I'm not mad, I'm laughing" thing as well. It's the most terminally online administration in history, but I'm just as terminally online as they are and I know what a poster's weakness looks like. If you think something doesn't matter, you ignore it, you don't respond to it. And if you do, you come hard, you don't mail in some AI slop like that.
Trump is sending his thugs after the most vulnerable people in this country, and that's unquestionably awful, but no matter what he and his minions want you to think, he has neither the will nor the ability to subdue America at large. They're too weak and too scared to even try. Instead they call names, post videos, and complain. They have no juice. They don't have the power they think they have. They're cowards, and when we push back, they crumble.
Fighting back is worth the effort.
Tabs I Closed
- Donald Trump Has Posted An AI Video Of Himself Dumping S**t On Protesters (Kevin Schofield, HuffPost, Link to Article)
- Cup of Coffee: October 20, 2025 (Craig Calcaterra, Cup of Coffee, Link to Article)
Other Stories I’m Following
- The Week in Abortion (Jessica Valenti, Abortion Every Day, Link to Article)
The assault on reproductive rights continues. This quick roundup includes stories about how Catholic health systems continue to try not to provide necessary health care to patients—even in blue states. You’ll also learn more about how Republicans are attacking abortion medication and, yes, even birth control. - Flock Safety & Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was For A Missing Person. It Was An Abortion Investigation. (Dave Maass and Rindala Alajaji, Techdirt, Link to Article)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation continues to expose the lies behind a Texas Sheriff Deputy’s use of a nationwide license plate surveillance system to track a woman who had an abortion. The original narrative spun by the Sheriff and Flock Safety was (as it often is when it comes to law enforcement in controversial cases) a lie. They were not trying to protect the woman in this case—they were trying to help her abusive husband punish her for self-managing her abortion. We need to have more safeguards against this kind of abuse of surveillance resources. - What’s a College President to Do in the Trump Era? (Michael S. Roth, The Bulwark, Link to Article)
Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth explains why higher education institutions must resist the Trump regime. He writes, “While we still enjoy freedom of speech, leaders in civil society must not stay silent when confronted by lawlessness and fearmongering from Washington. We must be steadfast in opposition to extortion under the guise of dealmaking, and we must create alliances rooted in a common devotion to freedom of inquiry, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Such alliances do not require agreement on all areas of policy, just a commitment to protecting the traditions of liberty now under assault. We have rejected tyranny before, and we can do it again.” - There Will Never Be Another “WTF With Marc Maron” (Diana Moskovitz, Defector, Link to Article)
One of my favorite comedians, Marc Maron, ended his podcast after 1,686 episodes with an interview with former President Obama. I had been with Maron since episode 1, since I was a huge fan of his work at Air America Radio, starting with his Morning Sedition program through the Breakroom Live with Maron and Seder program that they literally filmed in the Air America breakroom. After Air America canceled Breakroom Live, Maron used his still-functioning Air America keycard and began recording his groundbreaking podcast in September 2009. While I enjoyed many of his long-form interviews, it was his opening monologues that described his journey that I found most valuable. Moskovitz does an outstanding job explaining why in this story. - Where did S.F. streets get their names? (Peter Hartlaub, Harsha Devulapalli, and Janie Haseman, San Francisco Chronicle, Link to Article)
This is a fun—and sometimes surprising—dive into what’s behind the names of San Francisco’s streets. If you love the city, you’ll enjoy spending some time reviewing this resource.
Post-Game Comments
Today’s Thought is from a BlueSky post that hit especially hard on the anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry (October 16-18, 1859):
If I had explain American history in one sentence, I could do worse than "John Brown was hung for treason, but Robert E. Lee was not."
— Jessica Ritchey (@jmritchey.bsky.social) 2025-10-16T23:29:14.155Z
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On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump instigated a violent insurrection against the United States government. Here’s a video from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol that one can review if their memory fades.
People were hurt and police officers died protecting the Capitol. Vice President Pence and other elected officials just barely escaped danger. Our national streak of peaceful transfers of power ended.
It was not, as Trump claims, a “day of love.” And we must resist his efforts to rewrite the history of that dark day.
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